


The Very True and Very Secret Diaries of Regina Esplanade D'Amour, Queen of Valenca

by pageofpages



Series: Walk Away Nuzlocke [3]
Category: Pocket Monsters | Pokemon (Main Video Game Series), Pocket Monsters: Ruby & Sapphire & Emerald | Pokemon Ruby Sapphire Emerald Versions
Genre: Diary/Journal, Nuzlocke Challenge
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-01-14
Updated: 2017-08-06
Packaged: 2018-09-17 11:16:57
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 8
Words: 2,269
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9321089
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/pageofpages/pseuds/pageofpages
Summary: Entries from the diary of a queen as she reevaluates her life after joining some... special travelers





	1. 1

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Regina has some mixed feelings

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is a companion piece to Walk Away, and takes place after chapter 16.

Day 500

_ It is a solemn day of celebration. Or perhaps it is a solemn day with cause for celebration? Maryanne always told me that a queen must be clear with her language. _

_ “Words have meaning, Regina,” she said. “Change a simple clause or poorly define the antecedent even a simple sentence changes completely!” _

_ Perhaps it is fitting that today I find myself unable to stop thinking of Maryanne and her lessons because I am conflicted, just as I was in her classes. Back then because I thought no mere Metapod had the right to correct the future queen of Valenca, and now because Valenca is no more. _

_ But also it is saved. _

_ Today, the 500 year demon has finally been defeated. This is cause for celebration. There should be parades all through the grasslands, music lifting in the air until the wee small hours of the knight, smiles for a thousand years on a thousand faces. But there is not. Are not. _

_ This, dear Diary, is because the demon killed everyone except for me. Not for lack of trying. If it hadn’t been for a young human, Tommy of—well, I don’t know exactly from where he comes, but I shall ask later—the humans the demon would have finished me as well. My wounds from his attack are quite deep. _

_ So while the kingdom was finally saved, it was also damned. _

_ I have elected to journey with Tommy. Perhaps by journeying with a human I will get stronger. Strong enough to become the queen Valenca needed today _

_ Regina _


	2. 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Regina has a meet cute

Day 501

_ I met someone today. _

_ That is nothing new. I am was queen. Meeting new people every day was part of the territory, but this one is quite strange. _

_ She calls herself Eliza. That was most of what I was able to get out of her since it would seem Eliza is what Maryanne would have called an “elective mute.” Most likely because of her anxiety she can only muster to speak a few words here and there in front of other people, but this was not what was strange about her! _

_ After telling me her name Eliza immediately went to doing everything to take care of me without speaking a word! She barely even made eye contact. I asked the Croconaw, Irwin, if this was normal for Eliza. _

_ He said, “I don’t think ‘normal’ exists for Eliza.” _

_ Then Master Tommy and Ellen Jr. told him to shut up. _

_ But back to Eliza. _

_ When she was applying the medicine to my cocoon earlier I could feel her heartbeat through her big, strong paws. It was racing! Perhaps Eliza has never been in the presence of Royalty anymore? I should go tell her that I am sadly only royal by blood and not action since my kingdom has been destroyed. _

_ … _

_ That did not work. Eliza blushed and returned herself to her pokéball. What am I doing wrong? _

_ Regina _

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I wonder what's stranger: that Regina writes in her "accent" or that she doesn't recreate Irwin's


	3. 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Regina opens an old wound

Day 502 

_ I think I am learning more about this ragtag group of commoners. _

_ Today, I broke an unspoken rule. Since Eliza is frightened of me, I have someone with us whenever she tends to me. Irwin and Ellen Jr. were off getting food, so I called Tommy over. _

_ “Master Tommy?” I said. “It would please us greatly if you joined Eliza in keeping us company.” _

_ I don’t think he heard me. His face went blank. And his eyes began to water. Then Tommy fled. Eliza got up to go after him, but stopped when she remembered I was still there. Obviously, I had hurt Tommy’s feelings somehow, but I wasn’t sure why. I had been polite in addressing him. _

_ “Was it something we said?” I asked awkwardly. _

_ “Yes,” Regina said, and because these were the first words she had said to me other than her name, I kept going. _

_ “It’s because I said something impolite.” _

_ “No.” _

_ “Careless?” _

_ “Yes.” _

_ “What?” _

_ And then Eliza looked at her feet. I thought she was having trouble saying anything else, her anxiety stealing her words, but upon closer inspection she was trying to form the words with her lips. _

_ “Tommy,” she said. _

_ “Yes, I know Master Tommy—” _

_ “No,” she said firmly. “J-just T-tommy.” _

_ Eliza then went on to explain that their group used to include a Dunsparce named Uno who also called Tommy master. Uno died a little while ago, and Tommy is still upset. When he gets back I’ll have to apologize. _

_ Regina _


	4. 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Regina makes eye contact.

Day 503

_ Eliza has very beautiful eyes. _

_ Irwin has playful eyes. _

_ Ellen Jr. has serious eyes. _

_ And Tommy? Tommy looks tired. Less so than when we first met, but still quite tired. I asked Eliza about this and she said Tommy hasn’t been sleeping very well lately. In the night Eliza hears him tossing and turning and muttering about crowns. _

_ It makes me think of mine. My crown had been worn by generations of queens. Theoretically, I could always go back to the ruins of Valenca to retrieve it since it is on the statue of the last queen, my dear mother, which was left relatively in one piece by the demon but... _

_I'm not sure I could look her in the eye right now. Not even the facade of her, if that makes any sense? This makes me wonder what my eyes look like to the others right now. Luckily, they cannot see them fully thanks to my cocoon, but I wish I could know. At least what Eliza thinks. She takes care of me, and is the one I interact with the most. And yet, she is still the most inscrutable._

_ Anyway, perhaps Tommy will sleep again once we start moving tomorrow? _

_ Regina _

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ¯\\_(ツ)_/¯


	5. 5

Day 504

_~~ I am a failure today. Perhaps it is only right that there is no Valenca for me to return to. ~~ _

_~~ Regina ~~ _

_ When I was a little Weedle I dreamed of the day I would fly. In my dreams I was waking up with wings, shiny like crystal. New like morning dew. After I got used to the idea of my wings the me in the dream would stretch them as far as possible. My wings stretched into eternity. On the horizon the queens of yore were smiling down on me. _

_ “It is time,” they all said. “Join us.” _

_ My crown was lowered onto my head and once I could feel the royal diadem resting on my forehead, I began to rise. The earth below me shrank. All of my subjects were below me though. The dream me felt conflicting emotions. Joy because the whole of Valenca had gathered to see me off to my place in the sun. Sadness because I didn’t want to leave them behind on the ground. Fear because I had never been that high before. _

_ So there I hovered in the air between land and sky. The queens of yore were urging me to come to them. My subjects were urging me to rise as well, so I shouldn’t have felt guilty for leaving them behind.  _

_ And yet I hovered. _

_ Today I have finally flown in the waking world. I could be happy the goddesses saw fit to bless me with evolution. And I am. I swear. But. This isn’t how it was supposed to be. This was supposed to be a joyous moment of triumph. It would have been far more poetic for this to have happened during my final encounter with the demon. _

_ But my evolution happened apropos of nothing and has done nothing to help my people. I don’t really know what to do with that. _

_ Regina   _


	6. 5.2

Day 504

_ Maryanne once told me that it is a queen’s duty to protect her people. My grandmother was a literal example of a protector of her people. She was a warrior. But my mother was not a warrior. Neither am I. _

_ Today we were making our way to Mauville when Lord Tommy (I am thinking of knighting him so I can just call him Sir instead) tripped over another human he knew: May. May demanded a battle and Tommy did not want to. Everyone seemed on edge. Even Eliza. I felt so out of place among the ones I have been slowly getting to know since I was the only one who didn’t seem accustomed to fighting. _

_ And despite Tommy’s reservations, the battle happened. It was going well until May poisoned Irwin. Tommy was at a loss. Ellen Jr—the usually stalwart warrior—was tentative and panicking. But I immediately recognized what needed to be done to stabilize Irwin. I remembered what Maryanne had done when I had accidentally poisoned one of my playmates as a child. Ground up pecha berries. The antitoxins in pecha when combined with saliva works as a fast acting medicine against the poison. _

_ Irwin is okay now, the nurse at the Pokémon center confirmed it.  _

_ “Thank you,” Eliza said. _

_ “For what?” _

_ “Irwin.” _

_ “Huh?” I asked.  _

_ Frustrated, Eliza pointed her nose at the nurse and then at me. And I got what she meant _

_ I am not a warrior, but I can still protect my people. Valenca may be gone, but this team is mine. They are my people.  _

_ “Thank you, Eliza,” I said. I have never had the arms to hug someone, but I figured this was the best time to be the first.  _

_ Regina _

_~~ Her fur was so soft ~~ _


	7. 6

Day 505 

_ Eliza took me hunting today. Tommy and the others said they needed to go training. While I know I need to get stronger, the level of training Tommy was putting Ellen Jr. and Irwin through was far above my current abilities. That’s why Eliza asked me to come with her. I think?  _

_ Hunting, for Eliza, is more than just a pragmatic action. I learned that as she showed me how to “tail” prey. By watching the muscles of her back stretch and flex as she readied herself to pounce.  _

_ “Your turn,” she said after her third successful attempt. _

_ “What? No, we aren’t ready—” I said, but Eliza just nudged me in the thorax _

_ (Queens of yore, never have I ever—k) _

_ “Queen,” she said firmly. _

_ “Yes, that is my role?” _

_ Eliza rolled her eyes, “Queens… provide.”  _

_ “And how does hunting teach us to provide?” _

_ Eliza looked at me in a way no one ever has: as if I were stupid. I thought it over for a moment and felt ignorant for not realizing the quite literal way hunting is providing.  _

_ “Ah, we understand,” I said. “So what should we do now?” _

_ Eliza pointed her nose deeper into the tall grass. A solitary Paras was foraging for mushrooms. I got ready to pounce like she had. _

_ But before I could there was a scream. It shook the earth under my feet. It plucked the wings from my back. Metaphorically. I think? My skin was buzzing and I could barely breathe. But I could hear the scream. By the queens of yore, I just knew it was Tommy… and something old. Something old and full of despair. _

_ And then Eliza picked me up. She didn’t seem to hear the screaming or feel the pain. Instead she just started running until we came to a clearing. By then the screaming and buzzing and pain had stopped, so I was flying. _

_ “Sir Tommy, what’s wrong?” I asked. _

_ He replied by sending us back to our pokeballs. _

_ Regina. _


	8. 7

Day 506

_ Eliza and I have been abandoned.  _

_ That may be strong language, but as queen I was taught there is a time for calling a spade a spade. We have been left in a place called a “Daycare.” According to the other pokemon present in this place, trainers leave pokemon they don’t have time to train here all the time. But I know this is not the case. _

_ Before I was released from my pokéball I felt despair. The despair was not my own.  _

_ “What was that yesterday?” I asked Eliza. _

_ Eliza, who had taken to napping on a warm rock didn’t look at me. _

_ “Death,” she said. _

_ “We don’t understand.” _

_ Eliza sighed, “The curse.” _

_ She continued to explain that Tommy’s curse has far reaching implications, and one of those is that when one of his pokemon die, we all feel it. The curse creates a miniature feedback loop of despair which we all have to suffer because of it. _

_ But then I remembered how when I started feeling the despair yesterday, she didn’t. I wanted to ask about that, but instead I asked, “How do you know all this?” _

_ Eliza frowned. I have only known her for about a week and still I marvel at the complexity of her. Her face shifted slowly from anger to sadness to confusion and back to despair. A minute passed in silence as she thought, and I was certain she was not going to answer me.  _

_ “Tommy cheated.” Eliza whispered finally, and then she refused to say anything more. _

_ Without Eliza to talk to I explored our new surroundings. The Daycare seemed to be modeled after several different environs. There was a desert to the north, forest to the west, plains to the east, caves to the south and two pools—one of fresh and one of salty water—at the center. _

_ My exploration took all day, and it was a sufficient distraction from my situation. How will I learn to be queen in a place like this? What did Eliza mean when she said that Lord Tommy “cheated?” She still isn’t talking to me, by the way. When I returned, she was still sitting on her rock.  _

_ Perhaps I will try to interact with the other pokemon here tomorrow. _

_ Regina _


End file.
